My last post was on the date of my last long run. That back pain didn’t go away. Still hasn’t, in fact. I’ve been going to chiropractors and massage and doing what I can, but aside from one 3.5 mile run, I hadn’t run once since that day a month ago.

But what did I do today?

Ran the Nike Women’s Half Marathon, of course. 😉

There was no way I was missing it. Even having to walk more than normal wasn’t going to stop me. It took me three denied lottery entries and three years before finally scoring this entry, and there was no way in hell I was missing the race. Plus I was already registered and my name was on the wall..

And just as any run goes where it’s just about finishing and enjoying the experience and not the finisher’s time, a tutu was necessary:

(Dawn, Leslie, Me, Nicole, and Ashley at about 6 am)

We got to the start line:

And we were finally off and running at 7 am. We crossed about 12 minutes after the start. Nicole and I started with the above girls in the 11:00-12:59 corral, nice and slow. Unfortunately for the faster corrals, it seems they let our slow corral across the start line before the 9:00 and 10:00 groups left. They had to dodge slower runners/walkers a lot more than normal, which totally sucks. HOWEVER, it made it kind of awesome for Nicole and I because that meant our faster running group friends all passed us during the race and we got to see everyone! We even stopped for photos:

But it was very painful and hard for me. My back hurt, yes. Some motrin did help with that, and I was pulling my core in really tight to support my back the whole time. But it was also the deconditioning that had happened from not running all those weeks where my back was injured – muscle fatigue set in worse than anything else by the end. When I was running, it was technically still running, but at something like a 13:00 pace. It was kind of pathetic.

My final time was 3:08:00 — that is FIFTY ONE MINUTES slower than my half marathon PR. Yikes!

But look what I got at the finish:

ooooh… what could be in that little blue box?

That is some pretty bling. ♥

Overall though…I’m not sure I’d do this race again. I love the hype and the message, and of course the necklace, and I’m glad I finally got to do it. But it was SO crowded, SO hilly, So complicated to navigate race start/end, SO expensive….for me it might just be a once in a lifetime thing. I think I want to experience difference courses and different cities. Which is what Nicole and I plan to do next year – train together and pick out some half marathons we’ve never done. Sounds like a plan.

But the plan now is to keep going to the chiropractor, keep doing yoga and core strength, and back the running off to 3-6 miles only. Next race is the CIM relay on Dec 4th – my leg is 6 miles. Bring it.